- Diamond Head (film)
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Diamond Head 
VHS cover for the filmDirected by Guy Green Produced by Jerry Bresler Written by Peter Gilman
Marguerite RobertsStarring Charlton Heston
Yvette Mimieux
George Chakiris
France Nuyen
James Darren
Aline MacMahon
Elizabeth AllenMusic by John Williams Cinematography Sam Leavitt Editing by William A. Lyon Distributed by Columbia Pictures Release date(s) January 30, 1963 Running time 107 minutes Country United States Language English Diamond Head (1963) is a film starring Charlton Heston, Yvette Mimieux, George Chakiris, and James Darren, directed by Guy Green, and released by Columbia Pictures. The original music score was composed by John Williams, Hugo Winterhalter composed the theme, and Darren sang the title song. The soundtrack album was released by Colpix Records (CP 440).
Plot summary
Richard "King" Howland is a swaggering bigot land-baron living on the Big Island of Hawaii. He objects when his sister, Sloan Howland, announces she plans to marry Paul Kahana, a native Hawaiian, even though Howland is having a torrid affair with an Asian woman, Mai Chen. During Sloan and Paul's engagement party, Mai Chen's brother attacks Howland with a knife. Paul tries to break up the fight and is killed. Bitter at Howland for Paul's death, Sloan runs off to Honolulu where she is taken in by Paul's brother Dean and his family.
Meanwhile, Mei Chen gives birth to Howland's child but dies during childbirth. Ever the rabid racist, Howland refuses to accept the child and Sloan takes it upon herself to care for the baby. After an angry fight with Sloan and Dean, Howland is confronted with a personal dilemma — whether to continue on with his close-minded ways or to welcome his newborn son into his family.
Although the story is based on the novel by Peter Gilman, the screenplay by Marguerite Roberts makes several significant changes in Gilman's story. Several characters are eliminated—including Howland's father, Howland's wife, and his hapa haole (half-Hawaiian/half Caucasian) half-brother—and Roberts also changed the ending of the story.
Main cast
Actor Role Charlton Heston Richard "King" Howland Yvette Mimieux Sloan Howland George Chakiris Dr. Dean Kahana France Nuyen Mai Chen James Darren Paul Kahana Aline MacMahon Kappa Lani Kahana Elizabeth Allen Laura Beckett Vaughn Taylor Judge James Blanding Philip Ahn Mr. Immacona Edward Mallory Robert Parsons External links
- Diamond Head at the Internet Movie Database
- Diamond Head at AllRovi
The films of Guy Green 1950s River Beat (1954) • Lost (1956) • House of Secrets (1956) • The Snorkel (1958) • Portrait of Alison (1958) • Sea of Sand (1958) • SOS Pacific (1959)1960s The Angry Silence (1960) • The Mark (1961) • The Light in the Piazza (1962) • Diamond Head (1963)• 55 Days at Peking (1963) • A Patch of Blue (1965) • Pretty Polly (1967) • The Magus (1968)1970s A Walk in the Spring Rain (1970) • Luther (1973) • Once Is Not Enough (1975) • The Devil's Advocate (1977)Categories:- American films
- English-language films
- 1963 films
- Romantic drama films
- Films based on novels
- Films based on romance novels
- Columbia Pictures films
- Films directed by Guy Green
- Films set in Hawaii
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